Trim Review: An App That Saves You Money on Autopilot?

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Trim (also known as Trim Savings and AskTrim, and now owned by OneMain Financial), is a tool that promises to save you money effortlessly through automated bill negotiation and canceling unwanted subscriptions.

But is it as easy as signing up and letting Trim be your automated personal finance assistant?

In this Trim review, you’ll learn:

• How Trim works.
• What Trim offers.
• What Trim costs.
• How Trim makes money (and when you’re charged).

4.5/5

Trim specializes in bill negotiation, charging a 15% success fee on the annual savings achieved. This fee is billed up-front. This is the lowest cost among the top bill negotiation services. It also offers free subscription cancellation services, and a simple but helpful free budgeting tool for those looking to monitor expenses. Trim is ideal for people who value convenience over DIY savings.

Pros:

• Free to sign up.
• Negotiates for lower telephone, wireless, cable, satellite radio and internet bills.
• Can get you credits from your cable or internet provider for a power outage.
• Trim's 15% success fee with no monthly subscription cost is the lowest pricing among competitors.

Cons:

• The success fee is charged up-front after a successful negotiation, which may increase your expenses in the current month.
• There's a mobile-optimized website, but no mobile app.

Sign up for Trim

How Trim Works

Budgeting apps have changed the way people manage their finances.

We no longer need to break out a spreadsheet to budget, or log in to all of our accounts to see how much we’ve spent. We can see our cash flow in seconds just by opening a single app.

While these tools offer an array of useful features, they have their limits. And at the end of the day, these tools are not playing an active role in helping us make the most of our money.

That’s where Trim aims to fill a gap in the market. The service tries to actively help you manage your finances, even going as far as saving money through the use of artificial intelligence.

You get started by signing up for Trim and linking your bank account and credit card accounts. Trim then shows you the different ways it can help you save money:

What Trim Offers

The number of ways Trim can help you save money is growing. 

However, what the service is most well-known for is its automated bill negotiation tool and the ability to cancel unwanted and unused subscriptions.

This is a smart strategy for Trim, as negotiating your bills and canceling subscriptions are small wins that deliver big results.

The service can and has won users over with these quick wins.

Here’s how these features work:

Trim Bill Negotiator

Trim can negotiate your bill with any internet, cable or cell phone provider. Before being acquired by OneMain Financial in 2021, they did offer credit card APR negotiations in addition to medical bill negotiation, but these services are no longer offered.

How it works is that after you sign up, you’re asked to link your service provider and, if not listed, upload your latest bill.

Trim will then use a chatbot (or someone from Trim will place a phone call) to negotiate.

What’s nice about Trim’s bill negotiation service is that it constantly monitors your bills for ways to save money. 

For example, say that your cable bill goes up after the initial 12-month promotional period, or that there’s a good limited-time offer you weren’t aware of; in either case, Trim will attempt to negotiate a better rate.

Trim charges up to 15% of the annual savings it achieves on your behalf after a successful negotiation. (The fee varies depending on the service provider.) 

So, if Trim saves you $200 per year on a bill, its cut would be up to $30. This fee is charged up-front — their FAQ states within seven days of a successful negotiation — not on a month-by-month basis.

If you’re the type who never negotiates, this one-time fee could be worth it.

However, if I had a substantial bill I hadn’t negotiated in a while, I’d try negotiating myself first. Then, I’d sync the account with Trim.

Knowing this, I still gave Trim the chance to negotiate on my behalf.

My issue was that I don’t have much to negotiate. My current breakdown of cell phone, cable, and internet service providers are:

• Cable and internet: I pay $54.99 to Comcast for limited basic cable, HBO and performance internet.
• Phones: For two phones, I pay on average $24 per month for 2 GBs of data through Xfinity Mobile.
• Utilities: Local utilities are non-negotiable through the city.

So in terms of large, recurring utility and service bills, there wasn’t much for Trim to do.

But one benefit of linking your accounts is that Trim may be able to get credits for cable and internet outages. This is where I’ve personally seen the most savings.

On three separate occasions, Trim has been able to get a credit applied to my Comcast account.

Here’s a $10 credit negotiated in November of 2017:

And a $20 credit negotiated for me in October of 2018:

The third time was in January of 2019. The message I received from Trim was that it was a $20 credit, but a $30 credit appeared on my Comcast bill.

Here’s the notification from Comcast:

I have to admit, these notifications are fun to get. I gladly pay 15% for this service, as most of the time I wasn’t even aware there was an outage. 

So in my situation, Trim’s bill negotiation service has resulted in a nice win and has been well worth the few minutes it took to sign up.

Related reading: How to get free internet (legally).

Cancelling Unwanted Subscriptions

The other feature that gets a lot of press is Trim’s subscription cancelation service. With a quick text, Trim can cancel certain subscriptions on your behalf.

Trim starts the process on its end, sending you a monthly update of any potential subscriptions.

This is what it looks like:

Then, you can actually initiate the cancelation process by simply texting back “Cancel.” Trim will take care of the rest.

There are a few ways Trim does this, including:

• Sending an email.
• Placing a phone call.
• Sending a certified letter in the mail in cases where it’s extremely difficult to cancel (like gym memberships).

This feature is 100% free of charge, for both premium members and if you’re using Trim à la carte.

Trim’s Other Features

Once you log in, there are more potentially-useful features.

While these don’t save you money directly, they can help you make better financial decisions.

Here’s what’s inside:

• Spending analysis: Trim’s spending analysis lets you compare your spending month-by-month, by exact date, and by category. I found the exact date feature pretty useful for seeing if I have any big one-time expenses coming up.
• Budget your spending: You can set a budget with Trim, and the service will notify you of your progress throughout the month.
• Financial monitoring: Get a text notification any time there are certain transactions, such as your paycheck being deposited, an overdraft fee or a late fee. In addition, get a notification when other parameters are met, like a minimum checking account balance or a large transaction.

How Trim Makes Money

Signing up is free, as are many of the services offered.

Trim’s free services include:

• Subscription cancellation: The ability to cancel monthly subscriptions with a simple text.
• Budgeting tools: Trim’s spending analysis and budgeting tools allow you to easily track how you’re doing for the month.
• Text alerts: Notifications about monthly subscriptions sent via SMS, as well as notices about large purchases and whether you’re spending within your budget.

As discussed, Trim makes money through its bill negotiation service, for which it charges up to 15% of the total annual savings.

Furthermore, like many other budgeting tools, Trim recommends certain financial products that it thinks might be a good fit for you. These include credit cards, home and car insurance, and clean utility options (they recommend Arcadia Power).

The company is owned by OneMain Financial, which is a large personal lender that operates throughout the United States.

Is Trim Safe?

When setting up your Trim account, you can’t help but wonder if the service is safe.

First, know that the Trim app only has “read-only” access to your financial accounts. That means no changes can be made (such as moving money around) without your permission, and you can revoke this access at any time.

Also, Trim does not have access to the passwords for your financial accounts, which are linked through a well-known third-party service called Plaid.

Furthermore, Trim’s website uses 256-bit SSL encryption and all server-side databases.

If you sign up through SMS, Trim uses two-factor authentication (which sends you a text to confirm your identity).

Trim doesn’t share your data, according to its FAQ:

Your data is only used for you: we don’t sell it or use it in any way other than what we’ve explained already. We safeguard your data using bank-level security at all times. We don’t ever share your data with third parties.

How Does Trim Compare to Rocket Money?

The services are very similar. At their core, both companies’ goal is to help you save money. 

Rocket Money accomplishes this in a very similar manner as Trim, with features like identifying recurring charges, canceling unwanted subscriptions and automated bill negotiation. 

To get these services, you have to sign up for Rocket Money Premium, which costs between $3 and $12 per month (with annual plans offered to lower the pricing). You then pay a success fee anywhere between 30% and 60% of the annual savings, on top of that monthly fee.

Learn more in our Rocket Money review.

Given that, Trim stands out for its low 15% success fee paired with no monthly recurring payment.

Here’s a breakdown of the services offered by Trim and its primary competitors, including how much they charge. 

Trim FAQ

Trim Review: Closing Thoughts

I love the idea behind these next-generation financial services that are taking an active role in helping people manage their money.

I’ve personally seen the most benefit from the bill negotiation service, and specifically from Trim’s ability to get credits for cable and internet outages. 

And the text/messenger alerts are a nice way to keep a close eye on whether my budget is out of whack.

One thing I’d watch out for is if you pay hundreds per month for services. If Trim is able to knock $50 per month off your bills ($600 per year), you can get charged up to $90 up-front. There’s no question it’s worth it in the long run, but just make sure you’re aware of the potential one-time charges.

Sign up for your Trim account here.

R.J. Weiss

R.J. Weiss, founder of The Ways To Wealth, has been a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ since 2010. Holding a B.A. in finance and having completed the CFP® certification curriculum at The American College, R.J. combines formal education with a deep commitment to providing unbiased financial insights. Recognized as a trusted authority in the financial realm, his expertise is highlighted in major publications like Business Insider, New York Times, and Forbes.